I propose to take Questions Nos. 612 and 614 together.
NEPS provides educational psychological support to all schools in the following ways:
• General support and advice from a NEPS psychologist, either through the school’s assigned psychologist or through the NEPS Advisory Support Line.
• Support from a NEPS psychologist in the event of a Critical Incident.
• National and Regional Support and Development service for school staff which covers areas such as trauma informed practice, cluster group support for post-primary special education teachers and special class teachers, training for Student Support Teams and supporting reluctant school attendance/school avoidance behaviour.
• Access for individual casework where a priority need is established to either a NEPS psychologist or a private educational psychologist on the Scheme for Commissioning Psychological Assessments (SCPA) panel.
NEPS encourages schools to support children and young people using the Continuum of Support, whereby school staff use a problem-solving approach, including school screening (assessment) and evidence-based intervention, for children and young people experiencing difficulties in the school context including students who display reluctant attendance and school avoidance behaviour.
NEPS has developed guidance to provide schools with information on how to support children and young people who display reluctant attendance and school avoidance behaviour. The guidance aims to provides best practice for schools in working with parents and supporting their child to attend and stay in school. Educational Psychologists also deliver training to schools based on the following guidance documents.
• Supporting your Child when they are Reluctant to Attend School: Guidance for Parents and Guardians of Primary School Children
• Managing Reluctant Attendance and School Avoidance Behaviour | A Good Practice Guide for Primary Schools
• Supporting your Child when they are Reluctant to Attend School: Guidance for Parents and Guardians of Post-Primary School Children
• Managing Reluctant Attendance and School Avoidance Behaviour | A Good Practice Guide for Post-Primary Schools
NEPS psychologists can support school communities with reluctant attendance and school avoidance behaviour at all levels of the Continuum of Support. If involved at a case work level NEPS psychologist may provide consultation, liaise with other services and advise or become directly involved with the pupil to:
• Review progress with school staff, pupil and parents/guardians
• Identify other strategies and supports and contribute to an individualised student support plan
• Liaise with, or make onward referral to, other services as appropriate
NEPS has developed an elearning course for schools titled ‘Introducing a Trauma Informed Approach. The Stress Factor: Getting the Balance Right’. It is a short course that focuses on stress and its impact on wellbeing, learning and behaviour. The training aims to support school staff to build resilience for all including students with additional needs and those affected by trauma and adversity, including children with reluctant attendance and school avoidance behaviour .
NEPS and Jigsaw also collaborate and deliver webinars through Neart, the post-primary school mental health programme, which provides a comprehensive suite of mental health and wellbeing resources, training and programmes for post-primary school staff and parents. This work includes webinars for parents and two podcasts for parents on ‘Helping your child start post-primary school’ and ‘Supporting young people who are struggling to attend school’. For more information see the Neart Website on gov.ie.
The Department has initiated a Wellbeing Policy and Implementation Plan Review and broader stakeholder engagement process to consult on a successor to the current Wellbeing in Education Policy.
A key principle is that the review will be an open collaborative process to ensure the outcome is reflective of the concerns of all stakeholders. To facilitate this an Advisory Group has been appointed consisting of up to 30 representatives. The Advisory Group provides input to the process from key representatives, including student, parent and advocacy groups, at all stages of the review. The group includes educational stakeholders from advocacy, parental, staff and school groups. It is recognised that each of these groups will add value to the review process by bringing expertise and their lived experience to the table.
The Tusla Education Support Service (TESS) has developed a 5-year plan (2023-2028) to improve school attendance nationally. Initiatives in the plan include developing school avoidance support for schools, improved data collection and analysis, expansion of the Anseo framework to all schools, research and policy development, attendance initiatives and the continued development of the service delivery of the TESS 3 strands – Education Welfare Service (EWS), School Completion Programme (SCP) and Home School Community Liaison Scheme (HSCL). An SCP school avoidance practice model is currently being developed.
Anseo is a school-level support which provides an actionable attendance tool for schools which uses a three-tiered model. Schools can identify patterns of absenteeism at the student, class and whole-school level to develop nuanced and timely responses to drivers of school absenteeism.
The Anseo model was trialled in four schools during 2023-2024, and it is now being phased into roll-out, with the aim of rolling the framework out to all schools by 2028.
The Anseo team will support schools in recognising the value of using attendance data to implement effective, whole-school strategies to help improve student attendance.
The Anseo team have developed a range of resources and supports for schools engaged in the first phase of delivery of the model to respond to school avoidant behaviours.
Regarding CAMHS, this Department does not hold information on access to CAMHS as CAMHS comes under the remit of the Department of Health.
Please be assured that supporting students experiencing school attendance issues is a priority area, with ongoing training, consultation and multi-agency work in place to ensure their needs are understood and responded to appropriately.
